The Bay City Rollers Were
Les Mckeown - Vocals,
Eric Faulkner - Lead Guitar,
Stuart Wood - Rythmn Guitar,
Alan Longmuir - Bass Guitar,
Derek Longmuir - Drums.
The Band originally started as "The Saxons" and were managed by a certain Tam Paton.
ThetyThey originated from Edinburgh in Scotland.
So legend has it So the legend has it upon thinking of a new name for the group,
they pinned up a map of the USA and threw a dart at it!
It hit the town of Bay City in Michigan (home of Madonna).
In 1971 the single "Keep on Dancing" was released and reached number 9 in the Uk.
After several line up changes original lead singer Nobby Clarke Left and Les Mckeown Joined in 1973.
Then things started to happen!
The next single release was in 1974 with "Remember" hitting the number 6 slot,
followed by more top ten hits in the same year,with;
Shang a Lang, Summerlove Sensation and All of me loves all of you.
Tam Paton marketed the Rollers to appeal to the teenage masses and it worked.
TheyThey were mobbed everywhere they went.
The press dubbed it "Rollermania."
No one had seen anything like this since the days of The Beatles.
In 1975 the band had their own weekly tv show which was viewed by millions.
n They interviewed special guest artists and themselves in all good fun.
Two number one singles followed in the UK with,
"Bye Bye Baby and "Give A Little Love".
Click Here To watch a clip of Bye Bye Baby.
After many successful UK, European and Japanese tours the Rollers toured America
where their USA release "Saturday Night" hit the number one spot in 1976.
For a brief period they had thier own american based "The Bay City Rollers Show".
Rollermania was now a worldwide phenomenon.
AtAt this time Alan left the group stating he felt he was too old!
Ian Mitchell was recruited as a new Bass Player.
The Bay City Rollers last Hit was in 1977 With "You made me Believe in Magic."
There was unrest in the band as their own internal bickering became a problem.
Sadly the end was near.
Then Ian MitIan Mitchell was replaced 7 months later by Pat Mcglynn.
Alan rejoined the band in 1978
At the end of a Japanese tour in 1979 Les Mckeown left.
He was replaced by Duncan Faure.
The groups name was shortened to the Rollers.
They fired Tam Paton who had also been arrested and charged with child sex offences!
Three unsuccessful albums later they split in 1981.
The The Legacy
Since the 80s and 90s they have reunited with the original members notably on New Years Eve 1999.
The Bay City rollers are reputed to have sold over 300 million records worldwide.
A recent very best of compilation went in to the charts reaching number 11.
However they have been didled out of their fortune which is estimated at £5 billion.
A channel 4 documentary in 2004 investigated further details of this
which is appalling to see this state of affairs happen to the band.
It is strongly rumoured that Tam Paton holds the key to this
as he has done extremely well out of all this and keeps doing so.
The money seems to be secretly stored in offshore accounts from what Les Mckeown discovered.
Lets hope thtLets hope that it is finally sorted out as it seems to have made a terrible impact on the band members lives
lives who all deserve so much more for giving pleasure to millions!
At this present time in 2007
The Bay City Rollers are currently suing their record label Arista for royalties.
I sincerely hope they win. They deserve too!
Click on the link below to see the Rollers perform
Eric Faulkner